So football is once again our topic this week and that's due to the fact that the champions league resumed on Tuesday with CSKA Moscow finally joining the action. By the way, the Muscovites are the second Russian team in this competition. Those of you who follow this tournament probably already know that Russia's defending champions and current league leaders Zenit St Petersburg have kicked off their campaign last week with a match against Portugal’s Benfica which we have also covered for you where the Russian side prevailed 3-2.

The task for CSKA Moscow though, was widely considered insurmountable taking into account a couple of factors. The first and probably the most obvious one is the fact that the name Real Madrid itself is sometimes enough to make an opponent very nervous ahead of the match. And the second is the fact that CSKA Moscow played their last competitive match over two months ago, while real Madrid's domestic campaign is in full swing... By the way, Jose Mourinhos men are a full 13 points clear from rivals Barcelona, in first place in the Spanish la Liga.

The Muscovites managed to cope with their fear of Real Madrid and CSKA fans were probably the ones to thank for the added confidence. The match was staged in the Russian capitals Luzhniki stadium which normally fits around 80000 people. And CSKA fans managed to break the clubs European attendance record by purchasing at least 70000 tickets. So naturally it was pretty loud on Tuesday night and that noise certainly helped CSKA players with their confidence.

CSKA players match fitness was a widely discussed topic ahead of the game against Real Madrid. It became clear from the opening minutes of the match that the visitors are clearly faster, stronger and more creative across the pitch. However freezing temperature in the Russian capital hampered efforts by both teams and probably played a major role in Karim Benzema's injury only fifteen minutes after the start of the match.

Jose Mourinho promptly substituted the player for Gonzalo Iguain and that switch livened up the match for real Madrid. CSKA did have a couple of opportunities before that switch, however with the entrance of Iguain the Muscovites were mostly playing on their half of the pitch.

The opening goal for real came already in the 28th minute thanks to their number one star Cristiano Ronaldo whose low shot was impossible to deflect for CSKA third choice goalkeeper Sergei chepchugov. However despite Chepchugovs relative inexperience at the highest level of the game, he proved that he can be valuable when it matters the most, saving his side numerous times during the match.

So the score remained at one nil for the remainder of the first half and CSKA were desperately looking for a stroke of luck if not a miracle in the second portion of the match.

CSKA head coach Leonid Slutsky began making substitutions from the 64th minute. The team’s newest arrival from the Dutch league Ahmed Mussa was taken off for Seku Oliseh. But the substitution which was made just four minutes later change the picture of the game for CSKA Moscow entirely. The team’s Japanese import Keisuke Honda stepped in for Evgeni Aldonin and began to create chances almost immediately.

But despite gaining some sort of control, CSKA were still unable to pierce Real Madrid's defense and the visitors did have a few chances of their own.  82nd minute of the game saw the insertion of CSKA Czech international Tomas Necid for zoran tosic who also needs some more work in order to be one hundred percent game fit.

And it looked like CSKA lost their first leg against Real Madrid when the referee added three minutes to regulation time. But CSKA have been known to score champions league goals in the dying moments of the game and that happened this time around as well.

CSKA’s Swedish defender Pontus Werbloom who made his debut for the team in the champions league and proved that he can not only stop some of the best attackers in the world, but also help his team by scoring when it matters the most.

Alan Dzagoevs cross fell on one of Berezutsky brothers, the ball then was deflected to Wernbloom, who didn't hesitate and equalized with a powerful shot from a short distance to make the score one all.

It was a true shocker for Real Madrid who were probably ready to celebrate victory over the Russians. It was reported that Cristiano Ronaldo was so upset that he didn't stop to speak with the press after he match. But I guess that's his right to do so... Thankfully Russia now has superstars of its own who are ready share experience with the fans.

So CSKA Moscow now have a real chance of progressing into the quarter finals of the champions league provided they get the upper hand over real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in three weeks time. The reason I say a real chance is because CSKA have been known for a better performance in away matches of this competition. The perfect example would be a home loss against inter Milan with ensuing victory in the return leg.

So hopefully they will be able to repeat that feat and move into the next phase.

With less than a week left to go before the main biathlon start of the season, the coaching staff of the Russian team announced expanded roster for the 2012 world championship. We reported earlier that this year the German city of Rhupilding will see the world’s top biathletes fighting for the coveted titles in 11 races.

So, 5 sets of medals will be awarded in men’s and women’s fields of the biathlon program. And let me remind you what events will be represented at the 2012 world tournament in Germany.  The championship will be opened with a mixed relay that will be held on the 1st of March. Let me remind everyone that last summer this discipline was added to the Olympic program.

Then from the 3d until the 11th of March biathletes will compete in sprint, pursuit, individual and mass start races. This Wednesday Russia’s biathlon union made it known to the public who they are pinning hopes on at the upcoming championship in Rhupolding. Of course this is a preliminary roster and some athletes who were included into the team will miss the competition in Germany. On the 25th of February Russian coaches will form the final lineup for the world championship.

So, let me inform you who has high chances of performing at the major biathlon start that kicks of on the first of March. So, the following athletes were included into the expanded roster of the national team: the 2010 Olympic champion Evgeniy Ustugov, world cup winners Anton Shipulin, Andrey Makoveev, Evgeniy Garanichev, Timofey Lapshin, Dmitriy Malyshko and finally team’s rookie Vladimir Semakov. It’s worth mentioning that an athlete who won the sprint race at the Russian nationals in Ufa a couple of days ago – Nilokai Eliseev missed a spot on the national squad.

Women’s team consists of  double Olympic gold medalists Olga Zaitseva and Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, 2010 Olympic prize winner Svetlana Sleptsova, this season’s newcomers Ekaterina Glazyrina and and Ekaterina Shumilova and Anastasia Zagoruiko. Yana Romanova was also named a possible candidate to battle for podium places in Rhupolding.

- Every biathlete had an opportunity to make it to the national team through selection at the Russian nationals in Ufa- said Valery Polkhovskiy who stays at the helm of the men’s squad – he went on to say  - we gave a chance not only to the athletes who defended the national colors at the IBU World Cup stages during the season, but also to the biathletes who trained and performed only at the local level (in their regions). From the 16th of February till February 18th we staged the  national championship in Ufa  and  the roster for the world meeting was made in accordance with the results displayed in Ufa

Thus, Anstasia Zagoruiko, Ekaterina Shumilova and Vladimir Semakov got their places on the national team after they demonstrated excellent results in Siberia. Niloklai Eliseev did win the men’s sprint race, and we wanted to put him onto the list of world championship participants, but unfortunately we were not allowed to do that due to the rules established by the international biathlon union. Eliseev didn’t compete at the international level and consequently he didn’t pass the international qualifying tests. I discussed this topic with the IBU race-director Franz Berger, but we should respect the rules and unfortunately we can do nothing right now”

So let me repeat once again that the final roster for the 2012 biathlon world championship will be announced this Saturday. Undoubtedly the competition inside the men’s squad is much more fierce than in women’s team and Russia’s coaching staff will definitely puzzle their heads over the final four who will perform at the world championships.

Indeed Russian guys can boast of the perfect results they showed during the season. Just a reminder, all 8 Russian team members were on the podium at different World Cup stages.

Moreover, national shooting skiers Evgeniy Garanichev, Andrey Makoveev and Anton Shipulin distinguished themselves with victories triumphing  in sprint and individual races.

I have already mentioned that only four skiers from one country will be given the right  to compete at the world championship in Rhupolding. However,  team’s final roster will include 6 athletes but only 4 of them will be allowed to fight for awards in each race.

I will try to make an example. For instance, 4 men will take part in sprint and pursuit events and then the coaches can replace one or two athletes with other team members who will participate in mass start or individual race.

So once again, all Russiam men deserved the right to perform at the major start of the 2012 biathlon season as all of them were among podium finishers. But to great disappointment of all the Russian fans, two biathletes who brought awards to Russia will be outside the national team. Let’s rely on the experience of the Russian coaching staff who will undoubtedly make the right choice.

Ok, we have discussed men’s team and now let’s take a look at the Russian ladies who are also getting ready for the world meeting.

We reported in our previous editions of Russian Sports Daily, that unfortunately we are not spoilt by fantastic results displayed by the Russian ladies.  Really, their results don’t give us any reasons to expect positive performance in Germany. Only Olga Zaitseva was among the prize winners during this season, but the previous world cup stage revealed serious problems with Zaiceva’s shape.  Clearly Olga was not in her top form a week ago. 

She made a brace in Kontiolakhti by taking two  4th places in sprint and pursuit races.   Olga shot flawlessly in both events but lost  a lot at the ski-track. In women’s pursuit she was the only lady to deliver immaculate shooting, but she finished 4th there losing more than 30 seconds to the medal holders, who missed more than one target.

Olga’s rivals  Darya Domrachevaof Belarus and Magdlena Neuner of Germany and Kaisa Makarainen of Finland easily erased 30 and 40-second gaps that separated them form Olga Zaitseva.

As a matter of fact this trio: Neuner, Domracheva and Makarainen are the main contenders to win gold in Rhupolding. These ladies have enough potential to harvest a nice haul of awards in Germany these ladies occupied the podium in all of the races that were held at the previous world cup leg in Kontiolakhti. But let’s not be pessimistic and hope that Russian women;s team headed by Olga Zaitseva will be competitive at the world championship and will fight for awards there.